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Can anyone recommend a good tutor in the Chicago area for DP9 running on Mac? Thanks in advance.

Hello Mr. Composerm23,

I happen to reside in the Chicagoland area, and have been an active (almost daily) user of Mac Digital Performer (DP3 through DP9.5.2), and its predecessor MOTU Performer (versions 5 and 6), almost 25 years.

Since DP is such a versatile DAW, may I ask what kinds of tasks are you looking to "perform" in Digital Performer, before making a commitment. I would need to know what you are hoping to achieve in DP. For example: Are you into audio recording? using virtual instruments? mixing? mastering? time stretching? etc. etc.

Cheers,

Joe

Thanks for responding, Joe. I have primarily used notation programs (Finale, Sibelius and, more recently, Dorico) for classical compositions (orchestra, brass ensembles, art songs) and would like to see if I can use DP 9.5 to make my compositions sound more natural, using virtual instruments and/or the sound modules I have.

Ahhh!!!

DP 9.5 is "just the thing" you need in order to render classical compositions in ways that sound more natural, and less mechanical.

You see, notation programs generally don't "breathe" in terms of tempi. However, DP's tap tempo function will allow you to tap some life into a given composition.

In addition, various virtual instruments require manipulation of various MIDI Controllers: Breath Controller #2 comes to mind first, but also Controller #11 for expression (volume withIN a given track), and the Modulation Wheel MIDI Controller #1 for adjusting vibrato and other nuances.

As you are probably aware, performances of classical repertoire is ALL about nuance. This is where the standard notation programs fall on their faces for lack of nuance.

I must forewarn you: It takes a LOT of time and patience to get a classical performance, rendered from Finale or Sibelius, to sound even somewhat natural. Are you willing to invest the time and trouble to do so?

I need to inform you ahead of time that it is extremely difficult to tutor someone "online"; it is far better to work in person on these matters of creating nuance in a good performance.

My next question is this: Do you have some third-party orchestral programs such as Vienna Symphonic Library? or and of the East West Quantum Leap orchestral programs? Hint: Do NOT get the idea that using the Garritan Personal Orchestra, that came with Finale or Sibelius, is going to cut it in terms of a believable performance. You also will require some good additional convolution reverb programs such as Altiverb 7 to make a performance sound palpable. Even then, you will need an extra third-party package such as Izotope Ozone 8 and/or Waves to do justice to your performances.

ONLY if you are willing and able to have the above programs at your disposal AND that you have a high-powered computer with plenty of RAM and CPU (multi-core processing), then let me know. Anything less than this would constitute too many compromises in your performances.

Please let me know what you think, and if we should talk further.

Cheers,

Joe

[quote]My next question is this: Do you have some third-party orchestral programs such as Vienna Symphonic Library? or and of the East West Quantum Leap orchestral programs? Hint: Do NOT get the idea that using the Garritan Personal Orchestra, that came with Finale or Sibelius, is going to cut it in terms of a believable performance. You also will require some good additional convolution reverb programs such as Altiverb 7 to make a performance sound palpable. Even then, you will need an extra third-party package such as Izotope Ozone 8 and/or Waves to do justice to your performance.

ONLY if you are willing and able to have the above programs at your disposal AND that you have a high-powered computer with plenty of RAM and CPU (multi-core processing), then let me know. Anything less than this would constitute too many compromises in your performances.[quote]

Joe - I see that this is likely going to involve significant software expense. Also, what do you consider "high-powered" enough? Will an i7 MacMini with 16gb RAM suffice? Thanks again for your help!

Composerm23 wrote:

Joe - I see that this is likely going to involve significant software expense. Also, what do you consider "high-powered" enough? Will an i7 MacMini with 16gb RAM suffice? Thanks again for your help!

The only way to tell whether your computer setup will suffice ... would be to try it. Certainly 16GB "sounds" adequate, and an i7 Intel processor "sounds" accurate, but until the notes hit the cpu ... we won't know for sure. Restated a different way, rather than guess whether something will work or not -- don't guess; run an experiment and try it out!

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Cheers,

Joe